Red Herring
A red herring is irrelevant information used in
a debate or argument to confuse the issue at hand. A red herring could be
a response that doesn't address the original issue, instead diverting the
argument onto another topic. For example, a
driver who was speeding might argue that he or she shouldn’t get a ticket
because there are worse crimes being committed that should occupy the police.
The argument is a red herring, a classic logical {fallacy} – the fact that worse
crimes occur isn’t relevant to the fact that the driver was speeding.
|